Night Clash: The Battle of Foxmille
The Battle of Foxville commonly referred to by locals and participants as the "Night Clash", was a battle in the 22nd Pack War. It was fought as a defensive action by Captain James Steers, commander of the 16th Pack Guard stationed at the occupied werefox town of Foxmille against an assault by 3 war packs of werecoyotes numbering over 1,860. At a time when armies in the Wolflands were not numbering in the high millions (unlike their human adversaries in later wars), this was considered the most serious conflict fought between soldiers of the Central Alliance of Wolves and rogue lycan forces, as Foxmille had only an occupying military force under 800. The battle became legendary in Foxmille history as never before had there been a greater battle fought on its soil. It is also a celebrated battle in Central Alliance of Wolves military history of the 22nd War as it was a CAW victory after 3 consecutive days of combat. Captain Steers and a select handful of warrior-lycans were awarded with honors for their bravery and ingenuity exercised before and during the battle. Prelude The town of Foxmille was home to nearly 750 or 760 werefox citizens. It was conquered by the Central Alliance of Wolves (CAW) prior to the outbreak of the 22nd Pack War. Since its fall to the CAW, Foxmille had been occupied for nearly 3 years into the war. Captain Rideholden of the 11th Forward War Pack along with Heavy Forwards Packs from the 10th War Pack and 4th, had first taken Foxmile. The 10th and 4th returned to their previous stations, leaving the 11th Forward Pack to occupy and maintain order in the town. A year after the occupation, Foxmille was then occupied by the 7th War Pack under the command of Captain Vildamir Orangetongue. The third year of occupation saw the transfer of command from Captain Orangetongue to Captain Petero of the 19th Pack Howlers. This was a brief command change as Petero's Howlers were needed elsewhere on a troubled front. The next commander of the occupation was the young Captain Steers, leader of the 16th Pack Guard who was given the transfer as an impromptu mission after his recovery from a severe case of silver lung a half year earlier. The move was made to test the readiness of the returning Captain Steers. He proved himself worthy of his post as he maintained order in Foxmille. On occasion, there would come unrest between wolf and fox kind but none of it manifested to great lengths as Captain Steers sternly enforced the laws and execute justice with firm resolve. War comes to Foxmille Conflict reached new peaks as the 22nd Pack War continued. Passing packs of Werecoyotes, enemies of the werewolves in this war, encouraged the cousin werefoxes to rebel by constantly harassing their captors, the 16th Pack Guard. The harassment came in the destruction of livestock raised for the werewolves' bounty as well as destroying werewolf houses outside the town, in the rural areas. The harassment was not taken lightly and the matter was presented to Captain Steers by both his fellow werewolves and their werefox vassals. Steers then ordered an extensive surveillance on the roving werecoyotes. However, the packs of werecoyotes were no fools. They ammassed a force of over 1,800 warriors, between a total of 3 War Packs. The werecoyotes, a species of lycans mostly found in the far western reaches of the Eternal Frontier, had always been known as the more aggressive of the lycans of the arid regions. They connected ancestraly with their cousins the gray wolf variety and would often ally themselves with werefoxes and werejackals. There was an alleged number of werejackals who joined with the packs of werecoyotes to raid the outlining rural properties of Foxmille and harass the werewolf aristocracy that directed operations on those farms. The Battle Preparations Once it was confirmed that war pack had formed just inside the border to assault the town of Foxmille, Captain Steers ordered his Pack Sergeants to disperse civilian and military works to begin building a stockade around the town. The walls erected stood an estimated minimum of 13 feet and were cut from the evergreen trees outside of town. A moat intended to surround the perimeter of the town running 9 feet deep was never fully completed to the Captain's specifications due to the time crunch the 16th Pack Guard fell under with the approaching forces. Instead of filling the moat with water or oil, Steers ordered the moat to be filled with any and every scrap of metal. Some of it was purposely shaped into stars and other edged designs. The moat bottom was also filled with numerous stakes measuring 5 to 6 feet long. All of this was covered in soil, leaves, branches and some hides of deer, goat or bear to make blind spots. Captain Steers had sent for aid from Heroshire to send relief packs as reinforcements to aid in the coming battle. None came as it was later learned Steers' runner was captured and killed by the waiting werecoyote packs. Steers' requested called for reinforcements numbering no less than 1,200. Despite Steers' message failing to reach headquarters in Heroshire, the Captain's superiors did have reasonable suspicion when they had missed hearing anything further from Steers after a week's time. A detachment was sent from the 97th Pack Howlers to investigate the lack of communication from Foxmille's occupation force with headquarter officials. The detachment never reached Foxmille until after the battle. A native contingency was formed from the elder werefoxes who proved their unwillingness to side with the werecoyotes. This was a small number of 247 volunteers. Day 1 of the Battle On the second day of the following week after communications were cut off between Foxmille and Heroshire, the war packs of the werecoyotes finished their buildup and moved on the town. The werecoyote packs were commanded by warlords named Sabrakk the Black a ferocious black werecoyote and his counterpart Bro'Kear of a pack known as the Yar'baks. A third pack leader and master of a pack of werecoyotes included a warlord named Pacquio of the Ma'nu Pack. The three packs combined their forces to make an army of over 1,800. It was reported that a pack of werefoxes from the south, led by a chief named Trevor Blacktail brought to the fight a number nearing 60 to 80 to supply as runners, infiltrators and sappers. Category:Battles Category:Events